Management Operations - Assignment Example

? Managing Operations Operations Management: Service Analysis and Problem Resolution Number: Word Count: 4,155 words, excludingtitle and contents pages, diagrams and references Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 The Problem 3 The Potential Issues 4 Operations and Process Management 4 The Process Map 4 Figure 1: Process Map of Overall Process of Student Recruitment and Teaching 5 The Service Blueprint 6 Figure 2: Service Blueprint of Weekly Teaching Process 7 Stakeholders and their Interests 8 Logistics and Supply Chain Management 8 Logistics: The Tutor and The College 8 Supply Chain: The Students and The College 9 College Problems: Just-In-Time Operations? 10 College Problems: Information Flows 11 Table 1: Focusing Purchasing Strategy 11 Quality Management 12 Conclusion 13 Recommendations 13 References 15 Introduction This report outlines a problem encountered within a further education college relating to the provision of tuition for students. It begins with an outline of the problem and its consequences, then presents a process map and a service blueprint to show the ideal processes that would lead to a good customer experience, allowing the problems areas within the process to be identified. The issues identified will be explained using operations management concepts and possible solutions presented. The report will conclude with a summary of the findings and a set of recommended actions for the college. The Problem For the past few years, further education college “Town College” has had problems with the presentation of courses for their part time degree students in the marketing discipline. Last year, during the second semester, the international marketing communications course went through three tutors in the space of four weeks, causing several problems for both the college and the students. For the students, there was the lack of continuity in terms of teaching content and style, causing inconsistencies in what was taught and conflicting information being given by different tutors. Secondly, this lack of continuity was compounded for the assessment schedule, with coursework being set and briefed by the first tutor, then briefed again by the third tutor because they would be marking the assignment; and the exam preparation having to be rushed as it was the last tutor who had to prepare it to the necessary standards having taught a single week and with no idea as to what had specifically been covered during the first part of the course. This caused further problems for the students, who were unclear as to what would appear in the exam, and whether or not they had been adequately prepared. Overall, for the students, the learning experience was extremely poor. For the final member of staff teaching the students, the additional responsibilities of marking the assignment and setting and marking the exam, above the normal weekly course preparation, caused problems as there were no records of what had been presented by the previous tutors, therefore setting the exam questions was a matter of hoping that the areas covered in the exam paper had been covered adequately during classes. It actually transpired that one area, marketing ethics, had not been covered at all, requiring some last minute remedial work to be undertaken long distance as classes had finished by the time this was brought to the attention of the tutor. In addition, availability of resources such as photocopiers, flipcharts and pens, and computer access was not as good as it should have been, with photocopiers frequently out of paper and no automatic access to them as the contract was temporary. For the college, the quality of the learning experience delivered overall was not up to standard. There were complaints from the students. There was much rushing around to complete tasks towards the end that should have been done already. Quality standards were potentially compromised, as both the tutor and exam board had to be asked to take into consideration the circumstances surrounding the course, with the potential knock-on effects for the final quality of the degree awarded. Even though the final tutor received positive feedback from the external examiner as to the quality of the marking and feedback, the situation was less than satisfactory all round. The Potential Issues The problem described had many consequences for all the major stakeholders – the students, the staff and the college – and must be resolved as a matter of urgency to avoid a repetition during the coming semester. The issues seem to relate to the supply side of the experience, with the college unable to provide consistent teaching staff for this discipline or suitable and available resources to enable the preparation of teaching materials. The college also faces problems with quality management, as the problems have implications for the quality assurance processes of the college, the validating university and the regulatory body OSTED, who audit the college. These issues then cause a poor teaching experience for the final tutor and a poor learning experience for the students, with consequent potential problems of bad word-of-mouth reports to friends and colleagues. Operations and Process Management Slack et al (2009, p.4) define operations and process management as “the activity of managing the resources and processes that produce products and services”, further defining a process as “an arrangement of resources that transforms inputs into outputs that satisfy (internal or external) customer needs” (ibid). It is important to distinguish between the two for the purposes of this report because the problem being analysed is a process, rather than operations management. Slack et al (2009) differentiate the two in terms of scale, with operations management covering the whole organisation, with processes covering individual parts of the organisation. It also helps identify suitable diagnostic tools to use in the analysis. To try and identify the underlying issues, two approaches will be used to show the processes as they should happen. The first will be a process map, much simplified, to show the process from prospectus production through to results being announced. The second will be a service blueprint that will focus more closely on the teaching situation, and the related inputs, transformation process and outputs (ibid p.10). These should provide sufficient information for comparison with the actual events to identify where problems exist and what can be done to resolve them. The Process Map Process mapping is an activity designed “to expose the reality of process behaviour” (ibid, p.143) and can take many forms. The one to be used here is a simple flow diagram (see next page). Figure 1: Process Map of Overall Process of Student Recruitment and Teaching The Service Blueprint The second diagnostic device is a service blueprint (Shostak, 1984). Although the service appears simple, there are several things going on at once, which are more easily seen in a service blueprint. The following blueprint is based on the distinctions described by Bitner et al (2008): Figure 2: Service Blueprint of Weekly Teaching Process Stakeholders and their Interests A close examination of both processes indicates deviations from what should happen. These occur in the process areas outside of immediate student contact, but impact directly on both students and their overall experience of the course. The tutor is also directly affected by the problems identified, with the college being indirectly affected. Mullins (2010, p.829) defines organisational stakeholders as “those individuals or groups who have an interest in and/or are affected by the goals, operations or activities of the organisation or the behaviour of its members”. Different stakeholders have different degrees of interest: the students and the tutor are directly affected by the issues raised here, the college is one step removed from them and OFSTED, for example, are two or three steps removed from the problems. OFSTED, though, have a great deal of power and can adversely affect the college through its audit and reporting procedures, so although this report will focus on those stakeholders in the immediate vicinity of the problems, resolving them also ensures that other stakeholders’ needs are met. With the increasing marketisation of higher education, the students in this situation could be regarded as customers, but this would ignore their responsibilities within the service provision. They will therefore be referred to as students. The tutor is also potentially viewable as a customer of the college’s provision of services, so referring to any stakeholder as a customer ignores the reality of key stakeholders directly affected by the provision of services, whether internal or external. Having identified and clarified the nature of the interests in resolving the issues raised, these can now be assessed through the lens of operations management. Logistics and Supply Chain Management Waters (2002, p.551) defines logistics as “responsible for the movement of all materials into, through and out of an organisation” and supply chain as “the series of operations that move materials between suppliers as customers (ibid, p.550). Based on these definitions, the issues encountered at the college fall within both domains. For the purposes of this report, the relationship between the college/tutor and students will be set within the supply chain context, with the relationship between the college and the tutor falling within logistics management. The successful delivery of the logistics element of this approach is a prerequisite for the supply chain delivering the required service to the students. Logistics: The Tutor and The College The issues between the tutor and the college stem from the rushed nature of the tutor’s appointment towards the end of the teaching semester, and the lack of preparation for the impact of this on the teaching experience to be delivered. There is no process in place for ensuring that sessional lecturers (contract teaching staff within the tertiary education sector) are appointed in a timely manner and the appropriate facilities made available to them as soon as they begin work. This is not necessarily something the college would plan for, as the teaching is normally provided by full time and/or part time staff who will automatically have access to the required services (ID card, computer access codes, photocopying authorisation etc.). For sessional lecturers, all of this must be done, however, if the appointment is seen as being temporary (as it was in this case) rather than for the duration of a semester or year, it seems to be the responsibility of the lecturer to ask for appropriate access/resources, rather than the college having a process in place to provide them in a timely manner. Resolving this issue would allow the lecturer to arrive at the college and be fully prepared for the teaching session without going through the stressful process of trying to find resources immediately before a teaching session is due to start, with the possibility of being late for the teaching session. This would improve the student experience directly, as the tutor would be available before a teaching session for advice/discussion of issues and be more relaxed and organised, rather than stressed and disorganised. This problem seems to be located within the appointment process, which does not have the necessary elements to generate requests for access to resources, so also impacts on the provision of information within the college and between the college and the tutor. Supply Chain: The Students and The College Within the supply chain, the issues surrounding the appointment of the tutor fall within the area of the college locating appropriate suppliers to deliver the “finished goods” of a teaching session to students, at a particular time and to a particular quality (the cost is represented by the hourly rate paid to the tutor). Although the college looks to resource all teaching from its existing “pool of suppliers” – the full and part time contracted staff – there are occasions when this is not possible. At the time the issues under discussion occurred, the college was looking to appoint a new full time member of staff to cover the area of marketing. The college is not able to accurately predict if/when existing staff intend leaving, only learning of this when a letter of resignation is received and the notice period negotiated. This gives the college a very limited timeframe within which to provide new resources to supply the service. If existing resources are fully committed, then additional resources must be found. The process for locating additional teaching resources does not appear to be fit for purpose, if it exists. It is highly unusual to have three tutors for a single course within a semester, unless it is a deliberate choice to deliver subject expertise to the students (lecturers specialise in different areas and can therefore provide expert input on some areas that others cannot). There is no contingency in place to allow for the efficient selection and recruitment of temporary staff required to cover for emergencies. Existing staff can suffer accidents, personal issues or other emergencies that require them to take time off work at any time, thus a contingency process would seem to be a logical requirement for the college. Again, this problem seems to be located around the appointment process, but is a step or two further back in the supply chain, with the identification of the need to hire additional staff in emergencies. Three tutors in a single semester is not ideal, but if managed properly, the impact on the student experience can be minimised, ensuring any damage is limited or even removed. College Problems: Just-In-Time Operations? Reviewing the issues as analysed thus far, it could be argued that the issue of hiring sessional lecturers falls with the area of just-in-time operations (JIT). Certainly, the supply of lecturing staff outside of the core employees would seem to be done on an as-and-when basis, but whether this falls within the scope of a JIT approach is debateable. Krajewski and Ritzman (2005, p.483) define a JIT system as “the organisation of resources, information flows and decision rules that can enable an organisation to realise the benefits of a JIT philosophy”. They set JIT within the overall area of lean systems, which they define as “operations systems that maximise the value added of each of their activities by paring unnecessary resources and delays from them” (ibid). If the college’s approach falls within this area, it has implications for several areas of the college, including human resources and management information systems. The college’s issue would be seen as a “pull method” within lean systems thinking (“a method in which customer demand activates production of the service or item” ibid, p.484) as it is the number of students enrolling for courses that generates the need for resource provision (see process map on page 5). This might be seen as a utilisation of small lot sizes, but that would not take account of those courses where hundreds of students enrol (such as GCSE and A level courses). It does appear to fall within the idea of a flexible workforce, as sessional lecturers are required to undertake a variety of tasks within their roles, including basic IT troubleshooting, use of computing equipment to generate and deliver lectures/handouts, and the ability to teach across a discipline rather than focusing on a very narrow area. As quality is important within the college (and will be discussed later) if a lean systems approach is assumed, then continuous improvement can be built in to the processes and systems within the college, rather than having a separate quality control/assurance mechanism, as currently exists. Krajewski and Ritzman (2005, p.490) indicate that a lean systems approach can benefit some services as much as manufacturing operations, although the example they provide, financial and sale systems, does not really describe the situation in existence at the college. They identify benefits of a lean approach, including increased productivity, reduced lead times, reduction in paperwork and increased service and product quality (ibid, p.496) which are the ones that seem to be appropriate to this situation. Increased productivity of existing staff, however, is constrained by the number of hours it is possible to teach effectively in a given period and negotiated with national unions, so is not allowed to be changed dramatically. Reduced lead times would mean processes were in place to allow resourcing of courses quickly and easily following student enrolment, but it would need to be a process implemented across the college, rather than restricted to a single department, as there would be implications for other parts of the college. Reduction of paperwork is always welcome, as long as it does not compromise service delivery. For the college, it appears absence of paperwork (authorisation forms) is the problem, so reduction of paperwork is not applicable here. Increased service quality is also desirable, and resolving the issues would certainly improve service quality for this course, but that does not mean that the college approach would fall within a lean systems approach. Although some of the ideas associated with a lean systems approach are relevant to the situation at the college, the overall approach is not appropriate for a single department, nor is it the approach in place at present. Thus after consideration, this is not a JIT/lean systems issue or failure but must be resolved as part of the current supply chain and logistics systems. College Problems: Information Flows “Effectively managing a supply chain involves a variety of tasks ... [including] ... information management which includes managing the IT infrastructure to support the supply chain” according to Raturi and Evans (2005, p.217). One of the things that appears to be missing from the processes at the college is the efficient management of information to deliver the service. Lack of information provision to the various departments within the college result in the tutor not being able to access resources such as photocopiers and printing facilities, and the college not being able to hire temporary staff in a timely manner. This also affects information flows between the college and students as students need to know what is going on and the impact that is likely on their course provision. Therefore, systems need to be put in place to ensure that the right information is available to the right people at the right time. If hiring sessional lecturers is considered procurement, then it places the strategic emphasis on supply management (Kralijic 1983). Raturi and Evans (2005 p.218) compiled a classification table based on Kralijic’s work, which shows the different approaches to procurement he identifies: Importance of Purchasing Complexity of Supply Market Strategic Emphasis Focus High High Supply management Integration of supply chain with functional operations Low High Sourcing management Identification of best global sources for cost, availability and delivery High Low Materials management Control of key leverage items; use of multiple, local suppliers Low Low Purchasing management Functional efficiency and cost minimisation Table 1: Focusing Purchasing Strategy (Source: Kralijic in Raturi and Evans 2005 p.218) Considering these classifications, it could be argued that the college is also placing strategic emphasis on the other three categories as they are looking for the supply of sources according to cost, availability and delivery, using multiple local suppliers and looking to achieve functional efficiency and cost minimisation. Whether identifying the purchasing strategy is useful is therefore questionable. What the college needs is a business intelligence system that allows them to collate information about different “suppliers” of teaching services and their potential availability, such that, in the event of an emergency, locating appropriate teaching staff is less hectic and more focused. As the lecturer is already known to the college, much of the recruitment and selection process is bypassed, increasing the speed of appointment, and allowing sufficient time to enable resource access and teaching resource preparation. Such an approach would also allow the integration of systems to facilitate the ordering or updating of security ID cards, together with computer and library access. This idea seems to have much to recommend it as a possible solution to the issues at the college. Quality Management Quality management should be the connection between all organisational operations and processes, providing an overall approach to business and the provision of goods and services to customers. Meredith and Shafer (2007) identify different approaches to quality management based on country of origin, focusing on American and Japanese strategies and outlining the Define, Measure, analyse, Improve and Control (DMAIC) methodology. For the college, it is not necessarily a failure of quality causing the problems, but more a failure of processes causing problems resulting in a quality failure. Meredith and Shafer appear to favour the Six Sigma approach to quality management, citing examples such as General Electric that proves it works as the reason why (ibid p.127). It is unlikely that Six Sigma will help the college in the short term, but a systematic, systemic approach to quality is needed to provide standards and, therefore, measures of performance and control, and improve and maintain performance both within the affected department and the college overall. Meredith and Shafer remind their readers that customers are prepared to pay extra for excellent quality (ibid, p.128). The corollary of this is that customers are not prepared to pay anything for poor quality. The students in this instance are part time, and likely to be meeting their own fees, rather than relying on grants or employer funding. The importance of quality in the service provision overall is therefore going to be a key factor when those students decide where to study their next course, and what they choose to tell their friends and associates about the college’s service quality. Meredith and Shafer identify four categories of quality costs: prevention, appraisal, internal and external costs of defects (ibid, p.129). Prevention does not seem to be a high priority at the college, so prevention costs would be an opportunity cost rather than an actual cost. Appraisal costs would be involved if, for example, a consultancy firm were hired to help identify issues and improve things or if a member of management was assigned to assess the problems and suggest solutions. It is in the areas of internal and external costs of defects that the biggest issues have occurred, and because the college provides a service rather than a product, the effects are difficult to measure. They will involve loss of goodwill, time lost in resolving problems occurring as a result of the original issues and potentially financial costs if refunds are sought and provided. It is clear that quality needs to be addressed by the college, but this is something that should be done when resolving the process issues that underlie the problems. Conclusion The use of the process map and service blueprint have enabled a thorough assessment of the problems surrounding the delivery of the final year marketing components of the part time business studies degree, revealing some common faults that need to be resolved. The key issue is a lack of process in place to take account of the need to make urgent teaching appointments in a timely and efficient manner such that service delivery is not compromised and students receive a quality learning experience. This leads to additional stress for both staff and students and uncertainty surrounding the continued provision of the course. There are apparently three solutions to the problem: An improved sessional lecturer recruitment process Earlier intervention and action when emergencies are identified A business intelligence system providing information about sessional lecturer specialisms and availability. The college needs to take action to resolve the problem, but it must be the right action otherwise the same problems might recur or different problems arise following the implementation of the wrong solution. Recommendations Although considering each element involved in the problems has generated three potential solutions, the recommendation of this report is a combination of all three. The college department needs to set up a database of known sessional lecturers, containing specialisms, location, contact details and potential availability, and provide access to the managers responsible for appointing staff when emergencies arise. This will reduce the “lead time” for the appointment, cutting costs and helping maintain service quality levels for the students. In addition to this, a contingency process needs to be put in place that brings together the needs of the recruitment function and the needs of the appointed member of staff, creating a system that automatically generates the necessary forms and authorisations for resource access upon appointment of the relevant sessional lecturer. This again reduces the “lead time” of the appointment, improving both the tutor and student experiences with the college and ensuring timely availability of teaching resource to the students. Finally, management must learn to identify key indicators of problems that might result in staff absence, taking proactive steps to contact potential staff to determine their availability as soon as it appears there will be a staffing issue. If the potential staff absence then becomes a reality, the appointment process will have already been started and potential candidates identified to fill the vacancy. This will also trigger the advantages of the contingency process in improving the overall approach to emergency management and the service provision experienced by tutors and students. The implications of these recommendations tend to be time rather than cost related. There are existing computer systems that will enable a sessional lecturer database to be compiled with existing authority levels being used to determine access. But a member of management will need to take the time to generate an appropriate and relevant contingency process as well as identify the signs of impending trouble that would generate action. The member of management will need to be experienced in how the college works at present, to ensure the new process does not create problems for existing systems. But the benefits of the proposed solution should outweigh any time cost, providing a far more effective solution to emergency recruitment issues and minimising the impact of this on students and tutors and maintaining a high level of quality throughout. References Bitner, M. J., Ostrom, A. L. and Morgan, F. N. (2008) ‘Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation’ California Management Review Vol. 50, No. 3, pp.66-94 Krajewski, L. J. and Ritzman, L. P. (2005) Operations Management: Processes and Value Chains (International Edition) (7th edn.) Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River New Jersey Kralijic, P. (1983) ‘Purchasing must become supply chain management’ Harvard Business Review September/October Vol. 61 No. 5 pp.109-117 Meredith, J. R. and Shafer, S. M. (2007) Operations Management for MBAs (3rd edn.) Wiley, Hoboken New Jersey Mullins, L. J. (2010) Management and Organisational Behaviour (9th edn.) FT Prentice Hall, Harlow Raturi, A. S. and Evans, J. R. (2005) Principles of Operations Management (International Student Edition) Thomson South-Western, Mason Ohio Shostak, G. L. (1984) ‘Designing Services That Deliver’ Harvard Business Review, January/February, pp. 133-139 Slack, N., Chambers, S., Johnston, R. and Betts, A. (2009) Operations and Process Management: Principles and Practice for Strategic Impact (2nd edn.) FT Prentice Hall Harlow Waters, D. (2002) Operations Management: Producing Goods and Services (2nd edn.) FT Prentice Hall Harlow Read More